Samsung might start Android 9 Pie beta for Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ at the end of this month

Samsung has begun testing Android Pie beta for its flagship smartphones and public beta might start this month.

Samsung has the worst track record among all Android OEMs when it comes to releasing the newest software. In the past, Samsung has taken more than six months to release the newest version of Android and has most often limited the update to its flagship devices. Most of Samsung’s budget and mid-range Galaxy devices never get a taste of newer version of Android. However, the company has vowed to change that scenario in the recent times.

The South Korean device maker is preparing to release Android 9 Pie for its flagship Galaxy smartphones. The Android 9 Pie beta program is expected to commence by the end of this month and this year, the final version could hit the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy Note 9 by the end of this year or in January 2019, which will be well ahead of Samsung’s standard timeline. In the past, Samsung has announced new Galaxy S flagship with the latest version of Android at MWC and consequently pushed the update to older devices.

This year, things might improve a bit with Samsung starting the beta program little early. Samsung’s help pages for the Android Pie program have already gone up and XDA Developers note that the Pie beta could commence by the end of this month. Samsung’s flagships will be the first to get the update.

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According to a new report, Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ users will be able to try the beta version of Android Pie once it becomes available. Since, Samsung uses different chipsets in different markets, the update will not be available for all Galaxy S9 versions. If you own a Galaxy S9 or Galaxy S9+ then you will have to wait until the update is rolled out in your market.

In the US, Samsung is expected to push the beta update to those with an unlocked Galaxy S9, a T-Mobile Galaxy S9 or one on the Sprint network. The update is also being tested for Galaxy Note 9, according to a tweet by Samsung insider Ice Universe. There is a possibility that Galaxy Note 9 will not be part of the beta program initially.

Watch: Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Quick Look

Android 9 Pie was made official by Google in August and Google’s own Pixel phones were the first to get the update. Andy Rubin-backed Essential became the second brand to push the update few hours while OnePlus and HMD Global followed up with update for OnePlus 6 and Nokia 7 plus recently. The operating system is yet to show up on Android distribution chart and Samsung has done little to help by pushing out the newest version for its smartphones.

XDA Developers estimate that Samsung will drop about six updates spread across a period of every two weeks before the final release in 2019. The new beta version will be called Samsung Experience 10 and a leaked build shows it will bring new UI across all stock applications and dark theme throughout the interface. It needs to be seen how many devices get the update and whether Samsung works to push the update faster going forward.